Taiwan president says country has ‘more direct’ line of communication with Trump administration

"We don't exclude the opportunity to call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the U.S. government's consideration of regional affairs," Tsai Ing-wen said. (TYRONE SIU/REUTERS)

The President of Taiwan hinted Thursday that she could hold another direct call with President Trump, even though the initial correspondence between the two leaders prompted enormous tensions with China.

"We have the opportunity to communicate more directly with the U.S. government," Tsai Ing-wen told Reuters.

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"We don't exclude the opportunity to call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the U.S. government's consideration of regional affairs," she said.

Her comments — her first about relations with the U.S. since the weeks following an unprecedented call between her and Trump following his November victory — risk provoking China again, which had roundly criticized the initial call.

Trump's first call to with the Taiwan president was unprecedented and ruffled some feathers in China. (Susan Walsh/AP)

That call marked the first official diplomatic relations between U.S. and the self-governed island, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province, in 37 years.

Days later, Trump, in a further break from decades-long American foreign policy, said he opposed the "One China" policy and signaled that he could use his resistance to it as leverage to negotiate economic deals with China.

The U.S. has honored China's "One China" policy since 1979, when Jimmy Carter cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to ease relations with Beijing. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened force if it seeks independence. It has said that it would regard any recognition of a Taiwanese leader as a head of state as unacceptable.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump are working together to deescalate tensions with North Korea. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Trump, however, then backed off from his aggressive stance, agreeing in February to honor the policy and then, earlier this month, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in southern Florida.

The two leaders have communicated frequently in the weeks since and have pledged to work together to de-escalate nuclear threats from North Korea.